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Cat clavier

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An iconographic topic popular since the Renaissance, often satirical, in which an imaginary keyboard instrument is depicted with closely confined cats (or other animals) replacing the usual sounding elements. In place of a normal keyboard, the player pulls the animals’ tails, presses their paws or manipulates other body parts to activate the instrument, resulting in cacophony. Such depictions are commonly accompanied by a moralizing poem, aphorism, or other sententious literary device (e.g. ...